After eight years of his third marriage, Muzzammil Hassan beheaded his latest wife Aasiya Hassan. His abridgment followed her filing for divorce that cited previous incidents of domestic violence. Both of Ms Hassan’s predecessors in Mr Hassan’s uxorial affections are on record with similar complaints. Coincidentally, Mr Hassan is the founder of Bridges TV, an award-winning television station chartered to counteract negative stereotypes of Muslims in America.

Liberal Western responses account for this act as “an anomaly, not in any way reflective of a rich, beautiful culture and a religion whose majority seek peace”. A Muslim community leader disclaims the act: “This is not an honor killing, no way.” He adds: “It has nothing to do with his faith.” After denouncing “that most basic foundation of prejudice: The insistence that one member of a group represent the entire group”, an active feminist and LGBTQI advocate blames “undeserved male privilege and the resulting second-class personhood of women”.

Indeed, the road to conclusions contradicting the title of Islam as “the religion of peace” is paved with unwarranted generalizations. On the politically correct and empirically witnessed view, the appeal of Islamic submission extends primarily to men, tribes, and nations in dire need of forcible pacification. Their violent outbreaks attest to this need without impugning their gender or confession.

Today’s anniversary tributes are missing the point in addressing Darwin the scientist and Lincoln the politician. In truth, they accrue to “Darwin” and “Lincoln”, the six- and seven-letter alibis for otherwise intelligent and conscientious people wishing to exempt themselves from contemplation of their spiritual infirmities and social rackets.